Save Me
by Mariemusique
Summary: Regina was captured by her sister, who decided that the best way to make Regina suffer was to kidnap her. Robin finds her and takes care of her. Takes place after the Zelena/Marian storyline. (I am planning on adding more chapters, it is my first fanfic!)


Robin lead the way, with Snow and Emma closely following behind. David stayed at the door, in case Zelena was coming back. Robin's heart was pounding in his chest, he was scared of what he might find once he reached the bottom of the stairs. He hoped with all his heart that Regina would be there, but the thought of finding her hurt or injured paralyzed him completely. He had been living his life without her presence for a month now and couldn't go one more day without knowing where she was. He missed her smile, the warmth of her body next to his and the way she tucked Roland in at night. He missed waking up next to her and whispering sweet words in her ear when the boys were not looking. Most of all, he missed holding her in his arms at night. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he stopped just for a few seconds to listen. He was slowly beginning to lose hope of finding Regina tonight because the room was dead silent, and there was no way someone could be in there and not make a single sound, unless...After taking a deep breath, he finally willed his arms to move and push the door open. What he saw on the other side broke his heart in millions of pieces. He's pretty sure he heard Snow and Emma gasp behind him too. Right in front of him was a cage the size of a small car, just big enough to fit a person. On the floor was two bowls, one with what he assumed was water, and the other one with a piece of dry bread that looked like it had been there for a week. Next to them was a very pale and shivering Regina, only wearing underwear and a tank top. She was lying on her side and her eyes were closed. He didn't know if she was sleeping or unconscious. He could see that both her wrists were swollen and bleeding as they were both tied together behind her back.

"REGINA!"

He was not even aware that he had moved until he found himself right next to the cage, with both arms reaching inside trying to grab her shoulders and shake her awake.

"Regina, please open your eyes for me. Please my love, I know it's hard but I'm right here with you, I will get you out of here!"

He could see that she was trying to open her eyes and that it was taking all of her energy just to do that. Her pale skin was covered in bruises and scratches, as if someone had repeatedly beaten her. He could see scars that were starting to form on her thighs and shoulders. The thought of someone making her suffer like this made him sick to his stomach and for a moment, he thought he might throw up. As alarming as it was to stare at her beaten body, what was really worrying him was the deep coughs that left her throat raw every few seconds, and her shivering that seemed to only get worse by the minute. He suddenly felt the urge to hold her in his arms, to protect her. He started pulling at the cage, desperately trying to break it so he could go save Regina. As he was pulling and kicking the cage, he heard Regina cough and desperately try to breath, as if an invisible force was pulling all of the oxygen from her body. The more he was trying to break the cage, the more trouble she had breathing. Then he heard Emma's voice:

"STOP! Robin, I think the cage is enchanted. The more you try to break it, the more Regina gets hurt"

Robin was starting to panic. "We need to get her out of there!"

Emma gently pushed Robin out of the way and Snow comfortingly put a hand on his shoulder. "Robin, let me try to lift the enchantment, it's our only chance to get her out of here"

Emma slowly walked towards the cage and lifted her hands in front of it. Robin wasn't exactly sure what she was doing, but Regina wasn't gasping for air, so whatever Emma was doing seemed to be somewhat working. Suddenly, a loud cracking sound emerged from the cage and the front of it flew away. The loud sound had frightened Regina and she started sobbing, holding her legs close to her body in a foetal position and hiding her face against her knees. It didn't take one more second before Robin was on the floor right beside her, whispering reassuring words to her. He wanted nothing more than to hold her against his chest, but was hesitant to do so as he didn't know how she would react to somebody touching her. Instead, he just covered her with his coat, hoping that the familiar scent and the warmth of his jacket would soothe her. Then, with his gentlest voice, he said:

"Hey...Regina? I know that you are scared right now, but I'm right here with you ok? You are safe now baby, I promise that no one will hurt you again"

There was a hint of despair in his voice, as he was trying to get through to her, trying to pull her out of her panicked state. He decided to put his hand on her back, and started to rub small, soothing circles. That seemed to work as she finally lifted her head and made eye contact with him. The look of sheer panic in her eyes will haunt him forever, he thought. Then, unexpectedly, she threw her head on his chest, desperately looking for comfort. Without hesitation, Robin held her as close to him as humanly possible. He reassuringly wrapped his arms around her small waist, pulling her on his lap. Her body felt so small against his own, he was pretty sure that during the month that she had spent here, she had been malnourished. He could feel each bone on her body, could see her ribs sticking out of her sides. Her body felt so cold against his even with his coat covering her. He wondered what had happened to her clothes, and why she was only wearing a tank top. As she was crying and shivering in his arms, he noticed that it became difficult for her to breathe. Every few seconds, she was interrupted by a violent coughing fit that would leave her breathless. Robin knew that she had to be taken to the hospital as soon as possible. But before that, he had to figure out a way to get rid of those cuffs.

"Emma! Can you help me with those cuffs?"

"Yeah, I'll try to pick the lock"

Emma had stayed outside the cage to give Robin and Regina a few moments of privacy, she didn't want to crowd Regina as she already seemed traumatized. When Robin asked her about the cuffs, she walked inside the cage and slowly approached them. She made sure to make eye contact with Regina, not wanting her presence behind Regina to scare her. She sat down behind Regina and started working on the lock. She was careful not to jostle Regina's hands too much not to hurt her injured wrists more. Regina was still sitting on Robin's lap and was letting out quiet whimpers every time Emma touched her wrists. It took a few minutes but Emma was finally able to get the cuffs off of Regina.

"Ok Regina the cuffs are off, we can get you out of here now, you're safe", Emma said.

She helped Robin bring her arms in front of her from behind her back, as she knew that after spending so much time in this position, Regina's arms would be sore and moving them would be very painful. She hissed at the movements but gripped Robin's shirt as tight as she could once her arms were finally in front of her, not wanting to let go of him. Robin slowly started to stand up.

"Regina, I'm going to lift you up ok? Can you hold on to my shoulders for me?"

She didn't respond but Robin felt a small nod against his chest. He then proceeded to lift her into his arms and started walking towards the exit door. As he walked out of the cage, he noticed that Snow and Emma had returned to the bottom of the stairs, to give him and Regina some privacy. When he walked back to them, Snow quickly wrapped her scarf around Regina's neck, and gave Regina her hat and mittens. Emma had also taken off her jacket and placed it on top of Regina. The two women had seen that Regina was not wearing much clothing when Robin found her and they were both worried about her getting sick. When they finally reached the top of the stairs, Robin finally felt a small wave of relief wash through his body. He knew that Regina had a long road to recovery, but at least, she was now safe in his arms. When Charming saw them, he looked at Regina with sadness in his eyes, but stayed quiet. He knew that right now was not the time and place to ask questions. The barn where Regina was held captive was deep in the forest, so they had a 20-minute walk back to the car. Everyone stayed quiet during those 20 minutes, except for Robin, who constantly whispered reassuring words to Regina. He talked to her mainly to keep her calm and to let her know that she was safe, but also to keep her awake. Robin was worried that she might fall asleep and never wake up from her injuries.

When they finally reached the car, Snow and Charming sat in the front while Emma helped Robin get Regina into the back seat. It was a more difficult process than they anticipated because Regina didn't want to let go of Robin. Robin was finally able to sit and keep Regina on his lap, without breaking the contact of their bodies, while Emma sat on the other side. As soon as they started driving, Snow put the heat on at the max level. Emma had left a water bottle in the car and handed it to Robin, she could hear that Regina's throat was irritated from all of the coughing. Robin held the bottle to Regina's lips but she was shaking so much that most of the water was spilling down her chin. Robin couldn't tell if Regina's violent shaking was due to her being cold or traumatized, but neither one seemed like a good thing, he thought…The rest of the ride to the hospital was fairly quiet, with the only sounds coming from Robin's soothing words or Regina's whimpering. Robin heard Mary Margaret's quiet voice on the phone with Dr. Whale, informing him of their arrival to the hospital. Once they made it out of the forest and back to the main street of Storybrooke, David sped up even more and they were in front of the hospital in only a few minutes.


End file.
